Northern Italy Express: Milan, Lake Como & Turin

No flights or transfers are included, so we arrive on our own schedules and meet in Milan at 18:00.

• After check-in we head into the Navigli district for an aperitivo welcome drink as the canals catch the evening light.

• Dinner afterwards is relaxed and optional, time to put names to faces.

A full day in Italy's most stylish city, on foot, with the afternoon left open.

• We climb the Duomo rooftop terraces for Milan's spires and, on a clear day, the Alps, then the 19th-century Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Castello Sforzesco and a green break in Parco Sempione.

• The afternoon is ours: the Brera Gallery, the fashion district's flagship stores, or coffee in a piazza, then trattoria milanese dinner, risotto alla milanese and ossobuco.

Time to trade the city for the lake: a morning train drops us in Como, where mountains meet water.

• First the historic Como–Brunate funicular, a short steep climb with sweeping views, plus the walk on to the Volta Lighthouse for the best panorama.

• Then a ferry to Bellagio, the Pearl of Lake Como, and its flower-draped alleys, then a hop to quieter Varenna for gelato before the train back to Milan.

A morning train carries us to Turin, understated where Milan is flashy, all baroque palazzi and café-lined arcades.

• This was the country's first capital and the city still tells that story, from Piazza San Carlo, its baroque living room, to the Mole Antonelliana and its National Cinema Museum.

• We stop for bicerin, the layered coffee, chocolate and cream drink, and spare time buys the Egyptian Museum, largest outside Cairo, before the evening train back to Milan and a last group dinner.

The last morning is a short one: the trip ends at 10:00, so we plan onward travel around that.

• One last cappuccino, a stroll for souvenirs and a group photo before we split up.

• Flight, train or extended stay is up to each of us, and Milan's airports and Centrale station are well connected.